Corrado Part II

filmman said:
A little research will show that the AFM is the best market for action movies, especially indie action movies. It's not a good market for art films and comedies. I've heard recently that it's not a good market for horror films either but some people say that they can still sell horror at the AFM.

I remember Adam expressing lack of interest in the AFM because he would have to sit there and sell, which understandably he didn't want to do it. The AFM distributors are for the most part small distributor-agents. These days they don't offer advances. Many of them come and go. There are horror stories heard from indie filmmakers getting nothing.

But after all is said and done, where do we go to sell indie movies?

Hopefully Corrado won't be perceived as a movie that has been "shopped around." Putting a 2009 copyright on it is a good way to go. That's one good thing about digital; you just replace the end credit.

It costs a few hundred bucks to replace the end of a 35mm print :-)
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So he let it go by this year. The next AFM is when? -- Spring 09?

I have a strong feeling 09 is going to be a tough year for everyone, deflation is setting in, hasn't been around since the 30s. The good thing is, entertainment is holding right now and may weather this storm. People want & need to get their mind off reality every once in a while.
 
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nitrofour said:
hey adam, how interested are you in me being completely honest with my thoughts about the film and its potential? are you still headstrong on the "no criticism" part? even if its constructive?

i respect your hard work enough to ask this before running my mouth off in your thread :)
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Say what you like, I guess. I don't really remember saying "no criticism". At this point any and all criticism is kind of moot - the movie is done, I can't really replace cast members or re-edit, etc.
 
With regards to AFM - less than a quarter of people (in my experience) directly go sell there. Mostly a sales agent will do it for you. Many people in the distribution industry don't do AFM. many sales agents have personal connections to companies that can purchase the film directly; that's how it works. Finding that "right company" is the hard part.

Remember, Prodigi went to AFM and came back with .......zilch. It's not all it's cracked up to be. There are other ways of selling a film.

It takes 90 days or more to pre-produce. It takes the better part of a month to shoot. It takes the better part of six months to post produce. What makes anyone think that it takes a few days to sell???? it's a process, people.
 
Nov. 09 is the next AFM. Fewer buyers but it goes on still. But there are other markets around the world. The AFM is the only market in the US that attracts foreign buyers in large numbers. The foreign buyers are the only friends the indies have. If you're thinking what happened to American buyers? There are essentially no American buyers. One film in 25,000 finds an American buyer -- like Blair Witch; the distributor paid them $1 million and went on to make $200,000,000 theatrical. The producers of the movie had to sue to get a bit more. That's what I mean.

A foreign buyer, let's say from the Philippines, offers you $10,000 for an action movie at the AFM, you get $10,000. Then you sell 80% of all the territories in the ensuing markets for that year and the next three years and you make $500,000. Here's the difference, every action film can do that kind of business in the foreign market if it's in color and in focus.

The only problem for indie filmmakers at the AFM is that they don't have their own distribution, so they give their movies to an agent parading as a distributor and they get eaten alive (because, let's just say that's how the business is).

The best way out of this dilemma as I've seen it over the last twenty three years in the foreign market is to form an indie distribution company to handle all indie movies in the foreign market, a company that does not produce its own movies (conflict of interest) -- just distributes for indies.

My 2 cents worth :-)
 
taormina said:
Remember, Prodigi went to AFM and came back with .......zilch. It's not all it's cracked up to be. .
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haha, well that's not exactly... let me elaborate on what went down at AFM as i was in the room with him. he made dozens of leads (and even has some offers in place) that he otherwise wouldn't have had. interest was high, but few were authorized to make a move without a screener. the plan is to follow thru on these when the film is finished early next year with finishing funds he secured thanks to his award-winning showing at the SFFF.

but back to AFM... the buyers who normally could make deals based on a trailer and the cast, were reigned in. i've speculated this was due to the worsening global economy. i learned from a twenty year veteran of AFM that the foot traffic was a third of year's past. foreign distribution entities that normally sent a team of 5 or 6 only sent 1 or 2 reps this year. and the license to buy on sight was largely scaled back. they're being more cautious. buyers needed to bring screeners back home with them this year before making decisions. that being said, prodigi has a fat stack of leads and offers and requests for screeners he otherwise wouldn't have had if not for AFM. i hope he doesn't rush the film through post for the sake of following up on these sooner, and still makes the best picture he can.
 
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Well Zak, maybe he does, but let me tell you, I've also got a "big fat stack of leads" that I'm following up on and didn't go to AFM. I get calls all the time on this show. Maybe it's the articles or the cast, or both.

Problem is, it takes time to follow all of these through. Not really a problem, but anyone here looking for instant gratification won't find it.
 
ooooh. That's a good one. I'm gonna have to use that!

And zilch was the wrong word. I meant he had a showing at AFM and did not come back with distribution, that's all. Leads are not distribution. Interest and offers are not distribution. All part of the process, but not distribution. The core question raised here was AFM attendance; I submit I've generated the same without a presence there, that's all.
 
what AFM allowed him to do was concentrate the time spent acquiring all those leads down to a single week. his only misstep was not having a finished film there. another friend of mine took his horror film to AFM last year and made bank... all on his own. he's a self-distribution guru of sorts and has made over 4.5 million off two low budget films over the last decade.

i think the economy kind of blew it for a lot of folks this year at AFM.
 
Zak Forsman said:
what AFM allowed him to do was concentrate the time spent acquiring all those leads down to a single week.
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Very true. I've been really lazy trying to sell Corrado, simply responding to those who contacted me. I've maybe made three phone calls I can think of myself. I'd have liked to have gone to AFM just to see it. It would've been fun.
 
haha, thought i sensed a touch of sarcasm and indignation in that last post. guess not. anyway, i'm not interested enough in the virtues of foreign sales markets to continue belaboring the discussion. peace out!!!!!!
 
It becomes less recession proof when movies like "The Day The Earth Stood Still" get made. What would you rather do? Eat soup or go see a crappy movie?
 
Zak Forsman said:
haha, thought i sensed a touch of sarcasm and indignation in that last post. guess not. anyway, i'm not interested enough in the virtues of foreign sales markets to continue belaboring the discussion. peace out!!!!!!
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No sarcasm at all....I truly have been lazy selling the film, and it's very true that AFM coalesces all your leads in the same week.
 
brianluce said:
There's a myth that Hollywood is recession proof. As Zak intimates, it's just that, a myth. That's my IHOP anyway.
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We truly don't know if it is or not. One the one hand, the studios weathered the great depression just fine. On the other hand, there were really no independents back then. So will we see a situation where only studios can make movies again.....or only indies?

Your guess is as good as mine!
 
In the 1930s theatres were where you got the news [newsreels] cartoons & entertainment. Theatres were everywhere & TV was basically a new technology in only a few places. Today we have TV & this internet crap that keeps people away from more important activities :) But so far ticket sales have been doing well this last quarter. On the other hand, we're just getting started on the deflation/inflation economic roller coaster. People will need relief from their daily grind, especially if this gets really tough [depression]. I think indies can do well because we are the Masters of CHEAP! and cheap is very attractive during tough times ... we just got to get the story stuff down better and up the production values.
 
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